La. senators boost sales tax renewal bill in rift with House

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State senators have heavily rewritten a sales tax renewal bill to boost the money raised and stave off deep cuts across Louisiana government in fewer than five weeks.

The Senate tax committee Wednesday night stripped off the five-year expiration date from the House-approved tax bill and removed high-dollar exemptions for businesses. Senators then sent the rewritten measure to the full Senate for debate. It would raise $642 million, up from $365 million in the House version.

House Republican leader Lance Harris, sponsor of the bill, says the rewritten measure can't win House support, as time winds down on a special session that ends June 4. Louisiana's state sales tax rate is 5 percent, dropping to 4 percent on July 1.